Over Dinner One Night
by Gaya3N
Summary: A series of one-shots of Calzona family time set in the future.They are a perfect family, aren't they? :
1. Chapter 1

**A/N : All characters belong to Shonda. I was simply playing with them.**

**So this is my very first attempt. Un-beta-ed so all mistakes would be mine.**

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**Over Dinner One Night**

"Dinner's ready guys" I announce as I carry over the hot pan to the table where Arizona is setting the plates. Sofia promptly switches off the TV, gets off from the couch and rushes to the table.

"Yay! Pasta" she exclaims rubbing her hands in excitement and sits down.

"Where's Tim?" asks Arizona "Usually he's hovering round the table by dinner time and today…well come to think of it I haven't really seen him all evening, since you guys came back from school" her blue eyes flicker from Sofia to me. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah. He has been inconspicuously holed up in his room all evening" I say and look to Sofia. "Girl trouble?" She shakes her head. "I dunno. Must be busy or something." She doesn't elaborate but she doesn't make eye contact when she says it and that's how I know she knows something and she isn't saying it. "Sofia…" I begin.

Just then Timothy comes down the stairs, hands in his pockets, looking slightly…off. "Am not hungry" he says shrugging his shoulders.

"But it's Pasta. And you love pasta." Says Arizona her voice filled with disbelief. Timothy's capital appetite is no big secret. I believe his love for food, and not just eating mind you he cooks reasonably well, he gets it from me. And even though we may not share genes, for we used Arizona's egg and Mark's sperm, I think those nine months I carried him within me, has made us alike in a lot many ways. So yes, it's unbelievable when Timmy says he's not hungry.

"Mi'jo is everything all right?" I ask.

"Yeah everything's awesome" he says a little too quickly and moves to the fridge. "I'll just eat an apple or something" he says reaching for the handle with his left hand.

"Timothy Daniel Sloan-Torres you picked an apple over pasta, you are going to tell us right now what's wrong" declares Arizona from her chair. I sit down too and turn to face Timmy. When Arizona demands something in _that_ tone, yeah well the kids know it's time to stop kidding around.

"Well…" he shares a look with Sofia.

"Just say it already. It's not like you can hide it from them for ever" nudges Sofia, who has already started serving out Pasta for everyone.

"Ah…I kinda…had a little accident at school. No big deal though" he quickly adds when Arizona narrows her eyes. I give a quick inward laugh. I never grow tired of watching Arizona in her total "mom-mode". Even though she becomes a kid around them at times, she is quite the disciplinarian when it comes to such matters.

Timmy extracts his right hand from the pocket and that's when we see its hurt. "Just a few stitches…that's it" he finishes quietly, aware that he has got a lot more explanation to do.

Arizona gasps and I extend my hand to take his and examine it. "Have you broken anything? And where did you get the stitches from?" The mother and the doctor blending in my concern. "Sofia" he answers.

That's when we both turn to look at her, quietly eating away her dinner. She doesn't automatically start explaining but then she sees my raised eyebrow and puts down her fork. "Yeah so he came to me and I cleaned up the wound, took out the suture kit and put some stitches" she says matter-of-factly. "After making sure that nothing was broken off-course" she adds like anyone would be crazy to expect anything less from her. "It's just a little skin that's off" and she shrugs her shoulder.

Arizona seems satisfied with that answer and turns back to Tim. "So accident huh? More like Fight? Maybe a fist fight?" she asks a little angrily. Timothy has had issues at school. Not major ones but the occasional teasing for having two mothers and even though for a 14 year old he handles things pretty maturely, there have been the occasional fights since Junior High.

"Before you decide to ground me, I'd just like to say that I had very good reasons" he quickly says, rounding the table and taking the chair beside Sofia and addresses us both "Look the guy was talking crap. And I know I shouldn't have lost it, but I did and I punched him. Just once…"

"And that was enough to knock him down" says Sofia a little too proudly. I roll my eyes at her. She smiles her impish smile.

"Timmy, we've taught you to do better than this. Was it the teasing again?" I ask softly reaching out for his hand. I take it in mine and hold it there.

He doesn't answer for a moment. Looks down at his empty plate and ponders over the question. Then he looks up with a grim smile but says assertively "I know what you've taught me. And that's why if anyone talks shit about my family like that again, I won't hesitate to put them in their place".

"Hitting's not the answer. And look Sof has faced it all too, but she never did anything like this" says Arizona putting her hand on his shoulder.

He simply snorts. "No. Sof is just smart enough to never let the news of her way of _handling_ things ever reach you" That earns him a smack on his other shoulder from Sofia. "Don't baby brother. I know secrets about you that you wouldn't want me to tell your crushes. So act nice to me." I laugh and then Arizona gives in and laughs and the tension seems to dissipate from the table.

"Let's eat dinner before Sof finishes it all" I say and we eat in the usual chaotic manner. After dinner we finish off some chocolate ice-cream. As Sofia helps clean up the dishes Timothy comes over to the two of us sitting on the couch. Sitting down on the coffee table he asks softly "Are you guys still angry?" He has Arizona's blue eyes, and they are filled with such sincerity that I don't feel like punishing him. I share a glance with Arizona and she nods. "No baby. We are not angry. We just don't want you getting hurt." I say.

"We are so proud of you for standing up for your family" continues Arizona leaning forward and clasping his hands in hers. "But we only hope that you will pick your battles wisely" she finishes with a smile. Timothy nods his head and smiles "Love you guys." And he kisses us each goodnight and bounds up to his room. We share a light chuckle and then Timothy calls out from his bedroom door "O and can we not tell Dad bout it? I don't want him to come threaten some poor kid in school again". I laugh and then answer "You can tell him later." "Don't stay up too late doing whatever you do on that laptop of yours" shouts back Arizona.

"Done." Says Sofia, wiping her hands on the towel. "Goodnight guys" she says and starts to head up the stairs.

"Uhn…not so fast. Come here. We need to talk to you young lady" I say.

She comes, sits down on the coffee table with an exaggerated sigh. "All right. All right. I knew this was coming"

"Yeah. And you should also know better than to help your brother hide such things from us" says Arizona. Although she isn't scolding she means business. "It's great you took care of him when he got hurt but we want you guys coming to us when you're in trouble. And I know it's just you being the big sister and wanting to take care of him, but we also want you to know that we are always approachable"

Sofia had clearly not been expecting something so emotional from Arizona. So she blinks rapidly looking from her mom to her mami and sensing that we are talking seriously she leans forward and taking both our hands in her own, she says "You guys are awesome. And we know we can come to you with anything. But this, this was really nothing. And I wanted to let Timmy tell you himself. The hand, I promise I made sure it wasn't broken or anything and I cleaned the wound nicely before stitching it up. Guys…just…you know…chill!" And she lets out a loud breath and looks at us uncertainly. I realize in that moment how grown up my 16 year old (almost 17 I remind myself) is acting. "We are proud of you too mi'ja" I say to her and kiss her on her forehead. She smiles, says her goodnights and heads up to her room.

Arizona's eyes follow her all the way up the stairs. Then she sighs and leans into me as I wrap my arm round her shoulder. "We have good kids" she says. "We do" and I cannot but agree. Ours is not a family without fights, or with kids who don't act out. We face a fair amount of those. Arizona and I with our own hot tempers sometimes just carry over our tensions from hospital to our home. And the kids have had to face their more than usual high school hardships. But then I think about it, we've been fortunate to never have faced a problem which couldn't be solved over dinner. And it dawns on me that we are a perfect family! I don't know how I got so lucky but then I did. We did. We managed to raise our kids without messing them up. When I don't say anything for a long time, Arizona raises her head and asks me gently "What are you thinking Calliope?"

I sigh and say "Nothing. Just Timmy's hand and those stitches." I kiss her lightly on the lips and continue "Those were damn perfect stitches and I don't know who taught her that, but if Mark comes to know of it, he's gonna start working on recruiting her into plastics" and we both break into a laugh.

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**A/N: My first attempt at fanfiction. Reviews would be a great way of encouragement :)If this one works i could post more! Thank you for reading**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: SO I decided to to make this story a collection of one-shots. They are in no specific order, time line varies. But they all happen at dinner one night :)**

**Hope you guys enjoy this as much as the last one.**

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to Shonda. I'm just playing with them.**

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All I really want to do is go home, away from all this chaos and snuggle with my girls. It's the only medicine that works after a long and gruelling day like today. So after I shower and change I head straight home. But all my dreams of a quiet evening with my girls are shattered the minute I open the door to the apartment.

"Usted va a hacer _exactamente_ lo que yo digo y usted lo hará _ahora_!"[You will do _exactly_ as I say and you will do it _Now_!"] shouts Callie, in the voice she usually only uses on the residents and interns. A very pregnant Callie is standing near the kitchen counter huffing, her hands on her waist, her hair pulled up in a bun, and her whole countenance reveals it's been one of the not-so-good-days at home with their almost-three year old. Her Mini-Callie looks up from her high chair with the same stubbornness writ large on her face.

"Hey Girls" I say treading softly into the volatile environment. The minute Sofia sees me she lets out a loud wailing "Momma" and reaches out for me. Callie's tension visibly drains out when her eyes meet mine.

"Aww baby girl" I say as I lift up Sofia from her chair and hold her close to me but my eyes are fixed on Callie's. She's holding back tears and there's utter dejection in her voice when she says to me "I can't even handle my own kid. I tried to make her eat but she just wouldn't …and God I made her cry…what will I do when there will be two?" By now she's sobbing openly.

I quickly make my way over to her and envelope her in a hug with my free hand. "Sofia, what have you done today? Weren't you a good girl for Mami? You love Mami don't you? You don't want to see her cry." I talk to my little one, her wailing subsided to occasional sobs and she looks at me with her large chocolate brown eyes so innocently that I have a hard time believing she could work up her mother to such a state. Her cheeks are stained with tears and the lower part of her face covered with the remnants of the food Callie has been forcefully trying to feed her. I run my hands reassuringly down Callie's back and whisper softly to her "Calliope, all of us have tough days. It doesn't mean anything you know." When she looks up at me, I lean in and kiss her chastely on her lips and continue "Why don't you go get a shower and freshen up? I'll feed Sofia by then and put her to bed. Then you and I can have a nice and quiet dinner, ok? How does that sound?" I pull her in close to me and kiss her on her temples while she rests her head on my shoulder. Sofia whimpers and lays down her head on my other shoulder.

After Callie's gone to take her shower I clean up Sofia and settle her in her chair. I take the seat beside her and pull her plate of unfinished food towards me. "You've played with your food enough today. Let momma feed you ok? And then we can snuggle before you go to bed. You like snuggling, don't you baby?" I keep the conversation flowing as I start feeding her. Sofia doesn't complain much and opens her tiny mouth. I'm guessing after all the fighting she really must be feeling hungry. She babbles about her day and tells me how "Baby kick Fia when Fia snuggle with Mami".

"That's baby's way of saying Hi to big sister" I tell her.

"But Momma you say no kick when I at school. Kicking and pushing and hitting bad habit" she parrots what we have taught her, adding that vigorous shake of the head.

"Sofia, baby isn't kicking. Baby just wants to say Hi. Baby can't talk yet like Sofia. Sofia can talk, can't she? Because she's a big girl. And how did Sofia become a big girl?" I ask her as I put yet another spoon of peas into her mouth.

"Fia eat veggies" she declares triumphantly. "Fia Oshum!" she finishes with a clap.

Awesome. She just said Awesome. I laugh out loud. Here goes Calliope. Now she gets one more reason to complain how I have cloned out Sofia exactly like me. Which is true. No, not the cloning part, I don't do it consciously. But it is true that Sofia has picked up quite a few habits from me and that only makes me so much more proud to be her momma.

"You are awesome" I reiterate with a smile. "But you were not-so-awesome sometime back when you were giving Mami a hard time. Why do you do that baby? Didn't you promise me you would help me by taking care of mami?" I ask her softly, brushing aside the shock of hair that's fallen on her face.

Her face droops. "Sowie Momma" says the little one with as much remorse a 2 ½ year old is capable of conjuring. "I no be a bad girl from now momma."

"Good girl" I declare and kiss her. "My Sofia is so smart. You will be an awesome sister to the baby when it comes out won't you?" I imagine Sofia being a big sister to our little one. She will be the one guiding him at nursery. And then one day she will stop going to the nursery in the hospital and will have to go to an actual school. And finally she will be off to college. That thought scares me. Sofia away from me, away from home, alone in the big bad world. I don't want to see her grow up. I tense up at that thought and plaster Sofia with few more kisses.

"Momma" she complains. "Stop kissing. Me eating"

"I'm eating" I correct her. "But I thought you didn't want to eat, Miss Sofia." She pulls a face. I relent. "Ok now, here, that's the last bite and we are done with dinner, Yay!"

"Yay!" she repeats as soon as she has swallowed the last bite of her food.

After cleaning her up, I carry her over to the couch and she drowsily snuggles up to me. I hear Calliope moving about in our bedroom. I hope she has regained composure by now. She's a great mother. She's a natural at it. It's just that now a days her temper is at the shorter end of the fuse and she snaps pretty quickly. She was a terror in the hospital before she took her maternity leave. Even Mark walks around her like he's afraid of stepping on a minefield. And a sometimes-stubborn Sofia doesn't help matters. On most days she is a pleasure, helping her Mami around the house with the little things. But then there are days that she has to have things her way!

"Did you help sick kids today momma?" she asks shifting her position so that she's sitting on my lap and leaning forward to lie down with her stomach flat on mine. "I did. I did." And I tell her about my surgeries and my patients as simply as I can. I edit out all the sad stuff, so that to her it must sound something like an adventure that her parents undertake everyday. We three have an unspoken agreement to keep Sofia away from the harsher realities of the hospital. And Christina and Karev get constantly told-off for encouraging Sofia into surgery. We've decided not to push, but when she asks of her own accord, the surgeon in each of us can't help but tell her all about the magic of surgery!

She has completely drifted off to sleep by the time Callie comes out and joins us on the couch. She wraps an arm around my shoulder and lets her free hand slide down Sofia's hair. She kisses her head and breathes in her sweet scent. Even without her asking I tell her all that we did since she went to take a bath. "I'm sorry" she says softly. "No, she said she's sorry for making you mad" I tell her.

"I'm also sorry you had to take charge of her just after coming back tired from the hospital." "Calliope, you are carrying our child, the least I can do is take charge around the house and make it all easier for you. I love you" and I softly kiss her neck which is exposed to me as I sit wrapped by her warm arms. She smiles. "I love you too" and she drops down her head to kiss me properly. When we break apart she keeps her forehead touching mine. I rub her belly lightly. "It'll get easier once the baby comes" I try to re-assure her. She scoffs at that "No. Then the real work starts" That's true too. "Yeah. But we can do it. We did it with Sofia. We will be better prepared this time."

We sit in silence. Sofia sleeping. Me snuggled up beside Callie. "I'll just go put her in bed and then we can have dinner." "No just let's sit here for some more time" she stops me from getting up and wraps her arm tighter around my frame. And I sit there wondering how dreams indeed do come true.

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**So how was it? Too Sweet? Should I tone it down for the next chapter? Liked it? Please do review and let me know. Your reviews are a wonderful form of encouragement :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: Yay! finally finished this fic. I had to do a bit of research for it, but even then the medical facts in here are not 100% reliable. I'm a Literature student after all :P **

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to Shonda. I'm just playing with them. **

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"Sebastian wouldn't believe me when I told him I had two mothers" says my 11 year old Timothy between mouthfuls of dinner. "But then I explained it to him, how it all works and he found it cooool" he finishes with a grin. "He said he was sooooo jealous!"

Arizona rolls her eyes then questions the little blond sitting beside her "Yeah really? And how exactly did you explain it to him?"

"I told him what mami told me" he answers innocently and Arizona looks at me with an amused smile "Calliope?"

I never tire to hear the different intonations of Calliope from Arizona's mouth even after 13 years of being married to her. I crack a smile of my own "O I gave him the PG version, don't worry." I look at Timmy and continue "You really rubbed it into him did you? What perks does having two mothers have, huh?"

"Extra cuddles" he grins with his mouth full of food. Arizona and I break into a symphonic laughter. She then notices that Sofia has been sitting beside me quietly during the entire conversations, and has never once looked up from her plate. She raises her one eyebrow and asks me silently if anything's wrong. I shrug. Sofia is the usual moody teenager at 14. Sometimes she is so excited that she could go on and on for hours talking about the things she loves and then there are times that she completely shuts herself up, sits in a corner brooding, with her earphones plugged in and listening to some ghastly track. I sincerely hope her music tastes improve as she grows older. Not to say that I'm not happy she progressed from the Disney tracks (thanks to her momma) to something else, but the total transformation to Gothic rock at 14 is a little disturbing.

"Mi'ja what do you think are the perks?" I ask giving her a gentle nudge in the shoulder. She looks up only long enough to give us a "grow-up-already" look and mumbles with a shrug of her shoulder "Always having a stock of tampons and sanitary pads in the house?" Arizona and me exchange a look. Something is bothering her and Sofia being Sofia will not tell us what it is till she wants to. You can't push her too much. You have to wait for her to come to you. I have plenty of experience of doing just that for the past 14 years of my married life and so I don't mind when Sofia wants to take her time. But Arizona, not having ever to have dealt with herself, and with her penchant for "fixing people", finds it extremely difficult. "Sofia…" she begins.

"Momma can I take my PSP to the hospital tomorrow?" breaks in Timmy, unaware of the tension on the dining table. "Sebastian thinks he can beat me at Final Fantasy, but boy he couldn't be more wrong! He doesn't know I'm the Lord of Ivalice" and he swishes around his fork like a sword.

"Umm…I think Sebastian has a few rounds of tests tomorrow before we can take him to surgery next week. And he will be all tired out by it. So I don't think tomorrow is a good time, ok buddy? You can always play that game with someone else. I bet Uncle Alex would love to play it with you." Arizona answers.

He ponders over that for a few seconds "Uncle Alex is no fun. I always beat the crap out of him" I snicker at that. "Aunt Teddy is better at it any day. But whatever, I could just wait for Sebastian to become free by next week and when he's in post-op recovery and getting bored we could play the game" he decides for himself before diving into his food again.

"Don't be stupid!" snaps Sofia.

"I'm not stupid!" counters Timmy even as Arizona and me begin admonishing Sofia.

"Yes you are" states Sofia with dead- seriousness. "Next week? Are you even sure he's gonna be _alive_ next week?" she gives an unsympathetic laugh.

"Sofia that's clearly not the way to talk to your brother. Drop that attitude, chica or you know your punishment" I say turning fully to face her.

Timothy looks upset by that comment. Sebastian became his friend while he spent hours on the Ped's floor, waiting for one of us to get off work. Sebastian had been in and out for nearly a year now and the boys bonded over video games. He looks up at his momma with questioning eyes. Arizona puts down her own fork and wraps an arm around Timmy shoulder "He's got an excellent set of doctors working on him Timmy." Arizona had always insisted on being honest with the children, and though she did not like either Sofia or Timothy becoming too friendly with her patients, she couldn't and wouldn't stop them from making friends or behaving kindly to the sick kids under her care, whenever they spent their time in Ped's. "Tomorrow he will just be having tests and until then we won't know how truly well his body is responding to all the medication. And only after the surgery will we know if…"

"Don't lie to him" speaks up Sofia a little louder than either of us is used to being addressed by her. "He has a stage III Wilm's tumor. Nephrectomy hasn't helped him. The chemotherapy hasn't helped him. I saw Uncle Alex going over his x-rays; it's metastasized into his lymph tissues. He has what some 43% survival rate?" she finishes off in a ramble. She is angry. Angrier than any of us have ever seen her.

I've always believed Sofia was too smart for her own good. All the hours spent around doctors means that she has an undeniably vast knowledge of medicine for her age. And she has always shown her interest and that has always spurred the surgeons she knows to show her and teach her things that an ordinary 14 year old wouldn't be bothered to know about.

"Samantha came in complaining of a hoarse voice and she ended up dead three weeks after it was diagnosed as lung cancer. How can you be a surgeon and tell him that that kid's got a chance and raise his hopes. He needs a freaking miracle!" she's almost yelling at this point. Samantha had been a popular senior in her school and the girls had worked together for their school's annual musical. And she had been sad by Samantha's death (almost six months back, If I remember correctly) but we had never guess it had affected her this much.

"Baby, no one found out Samantha's condition earlier. And it was unfortunate. You knew her as a friend and it's alright for you to be upset about her death." I rub smooth circles over her back. She is still shaking with anger and hasn't stopped staring at Arizona, who continues to look back at her with a pained expression on her face. She turns to look at me and I can tell she's holding back tears. She begins to say something but is cut off by Arizona…

"23.3%"

We both look at Arizona and she's squinting her eyes to hold back her own tears. "23.3%. That was what your chances of survival were when you were born, according to that stupid programme that predicts a preemie's chances of survival." She draws in a shaky breath. "When Addison delivered you your Apgar scores were zero. Lucy could not find a heartbeat for several minutes. Minutes…" she is now openly letting those tears fall. "You know what that means?" there is a slight challenge in her voice. Sofia keeps quiet; she knows her mother doesn't talk about the conditions concerning her birth for obvious reasons. But it doesn't mean she doesn't know about them. "I…I had to work so…so hard to make your heart beat. And then when you were 5 weeks you had to undergo another surgery where you almost bled to death, but you didn't. You survived." Arizona stops to take a much needed breath and hangs her face down and lets her tears drip on to the table.

Sofia looks at me, worry writ large and clear on her face. I nod towards her momma. She understands, gets up and walks towards her. Gently she puts her hand around Arizona and holds her while she clings to the frame of our daughter, the daughter she barely managed to save, and cries her heart out. Sofia holds her, without a word. When the crying turns to intermittent sobs, I hear her whisper a "sorry". Timothy has been sitting there silently watching the exchange, unable to fully grasp the gravity of the situation. I beckon him to myself and he quickly comes over and settles into my lap. Even an 11 year old doesn't mind the protective snuggles sometimes.

Arizona draws Sofia to her own lap and kisses her face a few times over to remind herself that her baby truly is alive. "You are a miracle Sofia. The miracle that gives me hope every day. I see you now with your guitar or sprouting off those medical terms and I can't believe you are the same 1 Lb. 1 Oz. infant at birth. You proved people and science wrong. You survived. I know we were lucky" and she shares a glance with me "but it means there's always some hope for others to get lucky too." And she holds Sofia close to her chest. Sofia doesn't complain. She allows her mother to hold her.

Arizona extends one hand across the table towards me and I cover it with my own. "And mi'jo a good doctor besides having skills must also have belief in his abilities and hope that his abilities are enough" I tell her. She nods her head almost imperceptibly. "I know Ma" then after a pause she adds "I'm sorry Timmy. You aren't stupid. You're just more hopeful about these stuffs than me. I was an ass"

Timmy gives her a smile. Under normal circumstances he would have rejoiced at her admission but not tonight. He knows that something important transpired even though he doesn't understand it. He simply takes in her word and offers her a smile. "Apparently a lucky ass" he cannot help but quip.

Arizona gives a little laugh and plants a final kiss on Sofia's cheek. "The dinner's all gone cold. I don't think we can eat it now" says Timmy. "Aah…that's very hopeful of you mi'jo but you have to eat your greens. Go finish them now." I answer with a laugh. He groans but he slips back into his seat. Sofia gives her momma a kiss then on her way back to her seat drops one on my head too. I smile. My daughter is growing up. She's starting to face the harsher realities of life, but I believe we still have our opportunities to catch her when she falls. Or at least to help her get up again.

We all begin eating in silence, till Timmy asks with his best smile "Can we at least have ice-cream after this minor meltdown?" and we all break-into a laugh.

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**SO how did you like it? yeah I know this moves away from all the sweetness of the previous chapter, but come on we all have memorable angsty teenage moments don't we? I've always been intrigued about how all the time in and around hospitals and surgeons would affect Sofia, and here's my take. Please Review and let me know what you think about it. It's always very encouraging to hear from you. Also next update could take a while, I have exams coming up :(**

**P.S- I'm scared for Calzona and worried bout what's gonna happen to them in the finale? You guys?**


	4. Chapter 4

**SO yes, I still have an exam this tuesday but I needed to clear my head, make space for History, so I emptied the ideas from my head into this story and finally wrote it down :D Hope you enjoy this as much as the previous ones.**

**Fact- Phoenix, is the capital of Arizona (for all those not aware!) Yes now you can continue reading.**

**Disclaimer- All characters belong to Shonda, I'm just playing with them.**

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I look at him sitting in the hospital bed and he looks not like my lanky 15 year old brother but the small 6 year old sick kid I remember. His bandaged head is in the crook of mom's arm as she sits on his bed, her legs outstretched, cradling his injured right hand, now in a sling, in her lap. Mami is sitting on the other side, on a chair pulled closed to the bed and holding his other hand. Dad is sitting on the edge of the bed and he is saying something, to which both Timmy and mami laugh. Probably one of his "Blondie" jokes because mom glares at him but then assents and does smile, while running her hand through Tim's hair. Dad gets up and after giving mom a one hand hug and pumping his fist with Timmy, he says something to mami and heads out of the room. That's when he sees me standing outside.

"Hey Sof, so your finally back" he smiles as he walks up to me gives me a hug. I needed it, and he knows. "How are you doing?" he asks softly, his eyes searching mine. I shrug my shoulders "Fine. How are they?" Even though it's only Timmy who met with an accident, it's not news that my mothers would be as shaken up by it as him. "Well, you know, you're mom's been crying but Callie is there to take care of her. And Tim's dealing all right, though I'm sure he's gone get tired off all that fussing quite soon. So go right in, and give them some much needed distraction" he drops a kiss on my forehead and then heads to the elevators. I take in a deep breath then enter the room

"Hey, I brought us dinner" I announce as I enter the room, "from Yanni's" I finish with a dramatic flourish.

"Wow, you brought Greek, geek" says Timmy enthusiastically as he sits up a little straighter.

I settle onto the bed near his leg and drop the carry bag containing food on his thighs.

"Ouch, it's hot!" he complains to which mami laughs and picks it up.

"Stop being such a baby" I tease.

"Sofia, next time you decide to do the disappearing act please let us know" says my mom quietly, looking at me with her tear-stained beautiful face. My heart breaks. I nod once, then to assure her I add a quick "yes Ma'am." She then uses her free hand to wipe away the tears from her face. I know she was scared, is scared, and I understand completely. Even if I may tease her later for freaking out about such a small deal, my condition was not so different from hers a few hours back.

_The crowd cheers and I join them, as Timmy surges ahead with the ball. He dribbles, turns, gives his opponent the miss, starts on his left foot, but then dodges and surges ahead on his right. He lifts his head momentarily to look at the basket and then stretches out into his full height holding the ball high above his head and aims right for the basket. But before he can release the ball, a player from the opposite team shoves him and he goes flying into the air and the lands very ungracefully on his right side. The crowd gasps then roars in indignation. And before I can see what happened to him, the players are all crowding around him as the referee blows the whistle and a mini fight breaks out. When it clears out a bit, I see him lying on the ground still, writhing in pain. I hand my coke to Zola who is sitting beside me, she's nodding "Just go, Sof. I'll meet you at the hospital."_

_I rush to the side-lines and they are carrying him on a stretcher. Shit. One side of his face is covered in blood. He looks to be in real pain, and I know that definitely when he locks his eyes with me and says simply "It hurts like crap, sis". _

"_Has anyone called the ambulance yet?" I shout at the person standing nearest to me. "It's on its way" someone replies._

_I cling to his good hand "You will be fine Tim, is it the collar bone?" He nods. "Ok. Ok." I finger it lightly. "It's obviously fractured. But then 90% clavicle fractures are treated non-surgically and you'll be fine in a few hours. They'll give you some pain killers, put the thing in a sling, you will be fine. Just fine" I say it more for myself than for him. He just squeezes my hand. "Give the moms a heads up Sof. I don't want them freaking out when they see me being taken out of the ambulance on a stretcher". I laugh a little at that. "They are gonna freak out nonetheless" but I do pull out my cell and dial mami's number to let them know we are on our way._

So they do freak out and it's not just them. All the doctors we know( and tonight I realize there are so many) are huddled in the pit waiting for the ambulance and soon he's being wheeled around and orders are being shouted out, and there's so much organized chaos that I start feeling dizzy. Mom's crying and mami's holding her whispering something soothing. Dad's barking out orders at some scared interns. But within an hour things begin to quiet down, we know he's not getting a surgery and things are indeed going to be fine. So I step out to get some fresh air. And decide to return with some food for everybody.

"Stop moving your hand Tim, I'll feed you" announces mom. "No…no you can't feed me. I'm not a kid, mom" and he actually whines like a kid. Mami laughs "Buddy, you can either let mom or me feed you or you will just have to sit and watch us eat." She takes out the cartons and hands one each to mom and me. She looks into her own and says "S0? How's it gonna be? I would hate to eat all this moussaka without sharing it with you." she waits for his answer, as if she really has to. Greek is his favourite. "Fine!" he huffs. "Mom can assist."

Mami adjusts the pillows and Tim sits up straighter. Mom angles herself so that she can _assist_ him properly. He takes the first bite of the chicken souvlaki wrapped in pita bread and moans in appreciation "This is nice." He cracks a smile at me. I smile back at him over the cartoon I'm holding to my mouth so that the food doesn't drop on the bed. "Maybe I should get hurt more often so that you will act nicer to me"

"NO" all three of us shout out together and then laugh at the coincidence.

"There are only so many times you can scare the hell out of your parents mi'jo" says mami between bites. She relaxes back into her chair. "And you sadly have used up your entire quota."

"Besides, who said I'm gonna be nice to you? When the news of you being feed like a baby reaches school, you aren't gonna find me nice!" I grin.

He mock glares "You wouldn't" but there is also some apprehension, he knows I can be a devil when I want to be.

"Sofia" my mom admonishes. I don't reply, just grin. But then she actually looks at me and lifts her eyebrows. "Ok. Ok." I relinquish. "I will only tease him in private." She smiles.

"There's also Saganaki?" asks Timmy excitedly putting his hand into the packet. "I really must be hit hard in the head to imagine my sister, not just bringing me Greek food that she hates, but even bringing Saganaki? Aww…Sofia you are such a softie" he grins. I just shake my head and bite into the food.

"So are you taking Sof home tonight, I'll stay with Tim" says Mami "I'm on call anyway. So I'll just sleep on the couch."

"I'll stay too." Answers mom.

"What? One of you staying is bad enough for my reputation. And now two? Really mom, I checked. There are no monsters under the bed. So you go home and rest" Timmy says it light-heartedly but I can almost hear him pleading mom to go back, get some rest. "And besides" he cuts in when mom begins to protest "You can't leave the house alone to Sof. Its game night and I know for certain all her boyfriends would be very happy to come over" and he wiggles his eyebrows at me. I scoff, he's using me as bait, but I don't complain tonight.

My mothers laugh and then mom actually relents "Ok I'm driving Sof home tonight and I'll come tomorrow early before my shift starts and look in on you." "Just for you little brother." I say "Zola left my car here. I'll follow you home" I answer my mother with a smile. "No. I'm driving you home in your car, young lady" replies my mother with a tight smile. Before I can even begin protesting mami cuts me off "Let her drive you home tonight mi'ja" I look at her. And then I understand what she really means to say. Mom needs to make sure I'm fine too. So I agree.

"Hey what happened to the match?" Tim asks. "Dunno. Didn't ask." I answer. "Aaah..whatever." and he takes another bite of the food mom is offering.

Mami clears her throat "Wasn't there a Knicks match tonight?" then she checks her watch. "We might have missed it but we can catch the highlights" she says as she grabs the remote control and changes the channel till a sports channel comes across. I shift around in the bed. The perks of being a surgeon's kin are that you get to use the VIP rooms with the large comfy beds and the TV among other amenities.

We eat as we watch the match on TV. The Knicks were playing the Phoenix Suns. More like destroying them. And with Mami's NY background, we were all naturally supporting Knicks. "Come on, that's so easy! What are these guys doing? They aren't even trying to stop him! Aargh they are so off-their game. The Knicks are beating the crap out of them" says Timmy getting all worked up. "Hey! Hey! Rest. No jumping around. If you do that I'll switch it off" threatens mom. When he settles down she turns back to looks at the TV then continues "Anyways it hasn't been the best day for Arizona."

It takes a few seconds for us to catch on to that and then we all burst out laughing.

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**SO how was it? Did i get it right? **

**Yanni's is an actual Greek restaurant in Seattle. I didn't know. I googled :P Basketball isn't really my game so if there are mistakes, please overlook them.**

** Even though I may fail my History exam I'l be happy if you guys reviewed and let me know what you think. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Yay! so my lat exam over :D And as promised here's the next chapter. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer :All characters belong to Shonda. I'm just playing with them.**

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I open the can of corn kernels and add it to the bowl along with the black beans. I then move the chopping tray towards me and start to dice the onion. That's when mom walks in.  
"Hey Tim, what's cooking?" she asks as she comes over and places a kiss on my shoulder, just as she always does. But then a second later she stands on her tip toe and kisses the side of my forehead. That's how I know she's had a rough day at the hospital.  
"Black beans and corn Salssssa" I say as I jiggle my hips and give her a smile. She returns my smile, but it's not her usual "I'm-the-awesomest-happiest-person-on-the-earth" smile. It's her "I'm-happy-I'm-alive-and-the-people-i-love-are-alive" smile. Yeah, I can tell the difference.

They think being the youngest in the family I need to be shielded or something. But what they don't get is that I'm a lot more perceptive than any of them. Maybe it's just growing up around three phenomenal women with mood swings as erratic as Cal Ripken's bat swings, and learning how not to fall into trouble with them that's made me so good at reading their moods.  
So I know that when mom comes back from work and walks up directly to one of us and kisses us and gives that sad smile of hers, she is just re-assuring herself that her children are alive and that we were not the one on her operating table that day.

"Where's mami?" she asks as her pours herself a glass of water and settles down on the stool.  
"Grocery store." I answer back. "Don't worry this isn't the only thing you will get for dinner tonight. Ma's getting pizza on her way back."  
She doesn't reply just gives a small smile and watches me cook. My mom not talking, not trying to have the last word, that's another indicator that something's off.  
"Tough day?" I ask her gently.  
"Yeah. Yeah. It was…kinda bad." She lets the sentence fade away.  
I add the diced onions to the bowl then turn around to face her. "Mom" and I wait for her to look up at me.  
"You are an awesome surgeon." I look directly into her eyes as I say that. And I smile. It's a smile that conveys how proud I am of her and her work. How much I love her for being so caring, so loving, so giving. I don't need to say it. She understands. She smiles a beatific smile. She knows she is an awesome surgeon; she just needs to be reminded sometimes.  
"So does this awesome surgeon know how to chop tomatoes? I could do with the help" I ask.  
She gives a tiny laugh "Yes Sir!" and she gets up and moves in to stand next to me. A quick hug and a silent "Thank You Timothy" later she starts to work on the tomatoes.

A minute later Mami walks in and we can hear her before we even see her.  
"Pendejo! Doesn't even know how to park a car, why did he even buy one then?" she's livid. She puts her grocery bag on the table. She even drops the pizza unceremoniously on the table. Ouch! She's mad. But not the really mad I'll- rip-your- ulna- and- your- femur- and- fix- them-up- wrong kinda mad just the I'll- smash- your- nose- and- then- let- the- cartilage- join- back itself kinda mad. Mami raves and mom gives her a patient ear and adds all the necessary "O No"s as she rips open the grocery bag and starts to put the stuff into the cabinets.  
I smile a bemused smile and continue chopping the sweet red peppers.  
"And the stupid store didn't have condensed milk! What kind of a store is that? Every store has condensed milk. Now how the hell am I supposed to make that caramel flan tomorrow?"  
O. So that's what this is about. Caramel Flan. Sofia's favourite kind of dessert. Mami simply wants to make her caramel flan for her last Sunday lunch at home before she's off to college next week. So this isn't about the guy who doesn't know to park or the store that didn't have condensed milk but about seeing your baby grow up and move out to college.  
"I'll get it on my way back from practice tomorrow. Myrtle's would surely have it. Their stock comes in early in the morning. It'll be here even before Sofia gets up from bed. Did you need anything else?" I ask as I add the peppers.

She stops her tirade, opens and shuts her mouth for a second and then she nods. She settles down on the stool that mum vacated a few minutes back. "Yeah. Ok. No that's it." She shakes her head.

"She's leaving in less than a week now" she's whining almost.  
"Oh Calliope" says mom as she envelops her in a hug.  
"She was so small. Just when did she grow up?" she says with a shaky breath. "I told you we shouldn't have sent her to school. Then she wouldn't have turned out so smart and decided to move right across the country for her college." Mum smile a little at that but just holds her close and doesn't say anything. Mami just needs to blow-off steam. She's like that. She gets angry, she shouts it all out, she doesn't hold it back in. And once it's all said and done she forgets it and moves on.  
"It feels like just yesterday I held her in my arms. She was so little. Just a little larger than my palm." And she lets some of her tears drop.  
"So you're the crazy one today huh?" asks mom. Mami nods. "Ok. It's ok. I'll hold you today. But tomorrow I need to go back to being the crazy one ok. My baby's leaving, and I need to have my full quota of drama before I can smile and wave her off to her new class." They both give each other a sad smile and kiss each other. Deciding that I have given them enough time to be sappy I turn around with a snort "To her new class? I'm sure she'll murder someone out of embarrassment." And I put out my tongue.  
That gets a laugh out of them. Mami though is quick to sober up and asks semi-seriously "You are still 6 aren't you? There's still plenty of time before you run away right?"  
I smile broadly "I'll go to U of W if you want, so that you get sick of me coming home every weekend with my dirty laundry."  
"There's no way we are getting sick of you" replies mom. "No way. Not when I get home and find my son cooking dinner."

Mami has to pull me in for a kiss before she lets me get back to my dish. She puts the pizza in the microwave and then gets back to putting the things into the cabinet while mom takes out plates and glasses.  
"Where is Sofia by the way? Not back yet?" wonders Mami as she looks at her watch. "It's nearly 10. Did she say anything bout a late night?"  
"Calliope she's out enjoying with her friends. She will be back home soon." My mom tries to reassure her. Then she catches my eye and questions me.  
"She texted me half an hour back. She would be dropping Zola off before coming home." I answer while I start tossing around the ingredients in the bowl.

Just then the object of our discussion literally zooms home. Minutes later she walks into the kitchen singing "I'm your hell I'm your dream I'm nothing in between. You know you wouldn't want it any other way" Off-key.  
"Hey mi hermanito. Watchya cooking crio?" and she walks right up and puts her hand into the bowl. I slap her hands away. She pouts. I offer her a little of it on the end of the spatula. "Umm..." she moans into it. "A little more lemon though" and she smiles and ruffles my hair.

An affectionate, Spanish speaking Sofia loosely translates to a buzzed Sofia. No not drunk. She hardly ever gets the full out- of- control drunk. This is her two tequilas buzz.  
She slips onto a seat and pulls the bottle of water kept on the table to her. She proceeds to drink directly from it. Mom almost begins to admonish her but then lets it go.  
"ahum…so where were you? Clubbing?" asks mami.  
"Yup." She nods excitedly. "The usual. Just dancing. But then had to get back before the real party begins because Zola promised her mom she would be back home early. I mean Saturday night, who calls in early? And so because there wasn't any one there, no cute guys or girls…o there was one this one blonde. Looking all sexy in a short red dress…" and Sofia is grinning silly. Yup that's a buzzed Sofia. Extra chatty. "So this blonde walks right up to me and starts talking and dancing and even writes down her number for me" she says leaning forward to show mami her palm. I put the bowl on the table just as mom puts the pizza and sits down beside Sofia. "But it's almost gone now." She whispers softly as she pulls the hand back to herself and looks at it curiously. "You know when I walked into the washroom I half expected her to follow me and kiss me senseless." She grins. "That would have meant I would have had to marry her." She winks at me. So maybe I underestimated it. Maybe it was more than two tequilas.

"Sofia…" begins mami but then stops herself and just shakes her head. Mom is just too shocked to say anything. "Let's just eat dinner" is what she settles for. But before I even reach out to start serving I hear the sobbing sigh escape from Sofia. We all turn to look at her.

"Baby, what's wrong?" asks Mom immediately putting her hand on her shoulder.  
"You're already treating me differently. You promised nothing was going to change even when I go off to college, and here you are already treating me differently. I didn't send you a single text the entire day, I didn't inform you I was going to be late for dinner, I drank straight out from a bottle, I just told you I heated things up with a stranger and you said nothing. Nothing…" she looks from mom to mami. "I hate the change."

Yeah. That's the side of Sofia you get to see only sparingly. The unsure, insecure, needy Sofia that usually hides behind the sarcastic, almost-over confident, badass mask. She loves with abandon and she wants, needs to be assured that people love her too. That's probably the reason she flirts so much. Boy, Girl, anything human, she needs to make sure they want her. And it's probably also commitment phobia to some extent. She has picked up so many traits of being a surgeon already that it's not surprising to find her "Don't-get-too-heavily-involved-with-the-patient" attitude. She is just afraid to have her heart broken. She has never truly been heartbroken. I would know it if she had. She usually makes me listen to all her silly teenage drama but she has never spoken about any guy or girl as anything more than a passing object of her fascination.

She's wrapped up in mom's arm as she soothingly whispers "We love you".  
"Nothing's changing baby" begins mami but then she shakes her head and continues "No no everything's changing. But it's changing for the better. You are off to a great college. And you're moving so far away from home, but mi'ja, you aren't moving far away from us. Family ties are not affected by distance. You will always find us right beside yourself. We will always love you. We promise" she looks towards mom.  
"Always" she confirms as she kisses her forehead. After a minute's silence mami looks at me pointedly and mouths "Tell her"  
I clear my throat and Sofia looks at me her eyes still full of tears. For a minute I bite back my words, not wanting to tease her. She reminds me of our younger days and I think about all the times she held me while I cried and how she soothed my fears when our mums were not around. I almost make an honest confession of how much I'll miss her. But then I rethink.

"Sure. We love you. And nothing's gonna change. I'm not gonna move into your purple bedroom and steal your wardrobe and I'm still gonna kick your ass at xbox and I'm still gonna tease you when you call home feeling all homesick." I smile, she smiles. "And you're gonna have to fight me for the last piece of pizza like always." I crack a grin.

Mom and mami are smiling. Sofia straightens herself, wipes away the last of her tears. "Mauve. Not purple. And if you start wearing my dresses maybe you will have better luck with the girls." She smirks. "And I always beat you at xbox. And just like always" she stresses at the always "you can watch me eat that last piece."

She holds out her spoon like a weapon for attack. I clash it with mine. "It's war" I say and she nods.

Yes, I'm gonna miss her.

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**So how was it? It's partly auto-biographical. i freaked out too when my parents acted all nice before I left for college :P And now I'm headed home for the holidays. yay! Long summer break. And so this may be the last update in a while. I'll be home getting pampered but don't fret I'll be working on some new stories.****  
**

**Review and let me know what you think about this one. Lots of love-G :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok so i finally, finally wrote down the story. And it turned out a little different from the others, but I hope you still enjoy it. Would love to hear from you what you think about this one.  
****And about updates on my other story, I'm working on it. Should be up in a day or two.  
**

**Disclaimer :All characters belong to Shonda, I'm simply playing with them :)**

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"You can't make the phone ring by staring at it, hon" I tell Arizona wrapping her in a hug from behind as she is seated on the kitchen stool and place my head on her shoulder. I feel the tension flowing out from her as she allows herself to relax against me. But she doesn't respond immediately. When I turn my head to look at her I find her eyes closed and they open only when I place a light kiss on her cheeks "You ok?" I ask her gently.

"hmm…" is all the reply I get.

So I just continue to hold her tighter to my chest for a few more minutes. I think this is the best part of being married that I like. The sex and the fun and happy times are great, but these quite moments when we can both just connect, when we can both understand each other without words and can be the only source of comfort for one another, are my favourite moments. Our moment is interrupted by the "ding" of the microwave. I place another kiss on the side of her head and gently extract my arms "Dinner's ready. Let's eat something and then we can continue with that, and maybe add something more to the mix huh?" I ask her with a wink as I move to take out the plates from the microwave.

She simply laughs a little at that and then her eyes automatically flicker to her cell phone lying on the table. She lets a heavy sigh escape.  
"You could just call you know, If you're so worried." I tell her as I put our plates down and settle down on the table next to her.  
"I'm…" she runs her hand through her messy blonde hair "I'm not…" she meets my eye and she knows it's no use denying it so she lets out another frustrated sigh. "Aargh…ok. I'm worried. But I can't call them because I already spoke to them this afternoon and I don't want to be one of those over-bearing mothers who keep track of their child's every move. They should have their space." She speaks animatedly letting her hands join in in the talking, a sure-shot sign of Arizona Robbins "processing". So I decide to nudge her along.  
"But if you are worried you should call, and once you know they are fine, you will feel better" I say and dig in to my food.  
She considers it for a moment, just like I want her to. Then she shakes her head and let her shoulders sag "I just miss them. And the thought of them being alone out in the cold, dark forest scares me" she finishes with a pout.  
Did I ever mention before my wife looks adorable with a pout. I believe she is the only grown woman I know who can pull off the pout as cute. I can't but laugh at her statement.  
"Our kids are with their father on a camping trip just two and a half hours drive out of town. At a camping site that boasts of such wonderful amenities that it even seizes to be a proper camping experience, if I may add. And it's August, so even at such altitudes the weather is beautifully warm and dry." I smile as I cover her tiny hand with my own. "They are fine" I say with conviction. "And our initial doubts about Mark have been proved wrong and he's turned out to be a responsible father."  
"I'm not doubting Mark's parenting skills. Of course he's a great dad. It's just…Usually it's just Mark and Sofia, but this time there's Timmy too. And it's his first time, and he's just so small and Sofia…Sofia is right now in her adventurous phase." She huffs out.  
"Tim's eight. That's how old Sofia was when we let her go on her first camping trip. And as much as she loves her adventures, she takes her role as big sister quite seriously, especially when her mom's asked her specifically, you know?" I bend my head slightly and wait for Arizona to raise her eyes to meet mine. "Mark's got them."

When I don't get any response from her I decide to change tact "How old were you on your first camping trip?" I ask as I feed her a spoon of pasta from my plate.  
She swallows. "Six. But that's irrelevant. I hated camping and was forced to go nevertheless. So you can't use that Calliope"  
I laugh as I wipe the sauce from the side of her mouth "You hated them, but our kids actually love it! Did you see Timmy bouncing about the house yesterday? He's been reading up the brochures from Sofia's previous trips and he's even made a list of all the things he wants to do." She smiles at that. "And Sofia, well I'd be surprised if there's anyone at the hospital who hasn't heard from Sofia about their camping trip"  
"Alex knows their schedule as well as us." She concedes with a small laugh. "You're the one responsible here. Coz they totally get that from you" she adds.

"Hey, did I complain when you decided to take them ice skating last winter? Me, an orthopaedic surgeon who has to operate on people getting hurt from all such stupid activities, did not complain when my beautiful wife who still uses Heelys, decided to take our children to such a dangerous activity." I say with mock seriousness and it gets an eye roll from Arizona. "The love for skating, that, they totally get from you." That evicts a smile from her but before she can say anything in her defence I continue "And if I remember correctly, I did manage to make you love camping didn't I?"  
After a second's confusion, realization dawns on her and she colours lightly at that "Calliope, that's not really camping. It's Derek's trailer in the woods, and there's a proper bed and sexy lingerie" she adds the last part in a near perfect imitation of me.  
"I remember you saying you love camping" I whisper as I lean closer to her.  
"Well you kinda made me really happy before and I simply said that not to hurt your feelings you know" she whispers back.  
"Kinda, huh?" I ask pulling back a little.  
She lets out a quite laugh "Ok. Very very happy" she says as she leans in completely and captures my lips.

The kiss starts out slow but like all our kisses our emotions catch up to us and quickly it shifts from PG to Mature as I suck at her lips and she continues to concentrate solely on tasting mine and seems intent to draw blood from them. We only stop when I hear a small growling noise.

I laugh as I detach our lips, but I keep my forehead pressed against hers.  
"Sorry" she says sheepishly.  
"Someone's hungry" I say kissing the tip of her nose.  
She chuckles "Haven't had anything since an early lunch. Then I had two back-to-back surgeries. Which was good, otherwise, I would have too much time worrying about the kids."  
"And driving the Peds floor crazy" I add. She laughs but there is still that full-on blazing twinkling missing from her eyes.  
"I miss them too. I miss them being noisy and fighting and competing with each other to be the first one to tell us about their days at school…and Timmy's tactics to avoid eating vegetables and Sofia's enthusiasm about the next crazy thing on the planet." She squeezes my hand. I smile.  
"But you know what else I miss?" she raises her eyebrows at that.  
"You. Me. And an empty house." I add with a wiggle of my eyebrows and I get the first loud, whole-hearted laugh of the entire evening.

"Rotate it to get an even toasted feel on all sides" I tell Timmy as I settle down next to him on the ground near the camp fire. But it only results in him twirling the skewer stuck with a marshmallow faster in his fingers.  
"Not so fast." I scold him. But then I remember what mom told me, that I had to look out for him on his first camping trip. "Gently, like this" and I show him how to do it.  
He draws his knees closer to his chest and puts his chin on top of it. I can tell he's scared, because he isn't talking much. And my brother, he usually talks a lot.  
"Are you feeling cold?" I ask him.  
He shakes his head slowly from side to side. But then there's a movement behind us in the bushes and he is startled. He unconsciously moves closer to me. "What was that?" he asks me in a whisper.  
I try to see what it could be, but even after minutes nothing appears. "Just a wild rabbit I guess. The brochure says there are plenty of wild rabbits here. There aren't many wild animals on this side. They can be found only in the denser part of the forest." He seems only slightly relieved by that.  
_Talking to your patients helps to calm them down. _I remember Mom's words.  
"And besides animals are afraid of fire and we here have a huge camp fire" I gesture to the modest camp fire in front of us.  
"Who told you that?"  
"Mami. On my first camping trip when I felt afraid and I called back home, Mami told me that if I zipped up the tent nicely, listened to everything that daddy said and not wander far away, and kept a fire burning in front of the tent all night, I would be safe." He considers that for a moment and then nods. "Ok" and he gets back to concentrating on roasting his marshmallow.  
"And then there's dad. If any animal came to attack us, I'm sure dad would be able to fight it off" we both glance towards the tent and we can see only dad's feet sticking out of the tent as the tent door flaps in the wind. Although I've never actually seen dad fight any animal before, or for that matter any man either, but just knowing that dad would be there with us, makes everything a little less frightening.  
"Hey, it's done" I tell him drawing his attention back. I hold out a Graham's cracker with a chocolate and he gently places the marshmallow on it. I put another cracker on top of it and then hand it over to him. He takes the first bite and moans in delight.  
"So how's your first ever self-made s'more?" I ask him gleefully.  
"It's awesome!" he grins. "It's even better than the microwaved ones we make at home."  
I laugh. "Let's not tell mom that." And he joins in.  
"What are we not telling mom?" asks dad as he joins us on the ground. "The sleeping bags are ready. And if you guys want to be able to catch the sunrise tomorrow, you need to get into bed early." He says as he draws both of us close on either side of him. "So what are we not telling Arizona?"  
"That camp s'more is tastier than microwaved s'more" Timmy answers and dad laughs "Ok. It's our secret!" and he holds out his pinky.  
"Dad?" I ask him raising my head to look at him more clearly.  
"Yes love?" he asks gently.  
"Can we call mom and mami now to tell them good night?"  
He understands and he nods. "Sure." He fishes out his cell from his pocket "It's quite surprising how Arizona hasn't called yet for an update you know."

We are settled in comfortably on the couch sipping wine and watching something mundane on tv. Callie's arm is wrapped around me and she draws lazy circles on the side of my shoulder. That's when the Callie's cell starts ringing. She stretches and picks up the phone from the side table and a huge smile appears on her face.  
"It's them." And she puts them on loudspeaker.  
"Hi babies" we chorus.  
"Timmy is a baby, not me" we hear Sofia complain.  
"Am not" we hear Timmy's voice next.  
"Yes you are"  
"Hey are you guys still fighting?" I ask them. "Isn't there a rule about no fighting during camping trips?"  
"You just made that up right now, momma" answers Sofia "and no we aren't fighting. This is just healthy discussion" she quotes me.  
Callie laughs loudly at that. "How was your day?" she asks.  
"Great" Timmy answers. "We clicked loads of pictures. And we saw so many different birds and animals. You know…"  
"Blah blah blah." Sofia cuts him off. "Dumbo, that's why we clicked loads of pictures, we'll tell you all about them when we come back." I can almost see her sticking her tongue out and Timmy pulling a face. "But right now, we called to say good night. Coz we need to go sleep early. So that we can get up early and watch the sunrise." She continues to babble.  
"Good night mom. Good night mami" Timmy calls out too.  
After our "good night"s and our "Love you"s are over we speak briefly to Mark who updates us on their upcoming activities and we finally switch off the cell with broad smiles on our face. It felt so good hearing my babies' voices. I can finally go to bed peacefully.  
Callie is still looking at her cell with a dreamy look on her face and smiling when I nuzzle closer to her. She looks at me and I whisper "So what were you saying our plans are for tonight?"

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**SO did i succeed with it? Those of you who don't like Mark, I tried keeping his involvement to a minimum but this idea did need him, i mean i cant let the kids wander off all alone. So if you didnt like that part (Yes im aware that most of you Calzona fans dont like Mark) I would have to put it down to "The Story Demanded it"  
Honestly, I'm running out of ideas for what happens over dinner so if you guys have ideas that you would like to share or have issues that you would like me to address, or you want to know more about them, please let me know, and I'll work with them. As of now, I have no new ideas.  
So read and please review and let me know. Love- G **


	7. Chapter 7

**Been a long time :) Life's been crazy. And this idea just popped into my head. I hope you guys like it! Happy Reading :)  
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Shonda, I'm simply playing with them.**

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I have to admit that the couple in the centre of the dance floor, effortlessly swaying to the breezy number, did look good together. They fit perfectly. And looked very comfortable with each other, a little too comfortable for my liking. As he leaned down to whisper something in the Latina's ear, I saw his lips gently brushing against her exposed shoulder blade. But it was for just a fleeting moment. Whatever he said, must have been funny, because the next moment I see her throw back her head and laugh. But her laugh was interrupted as he pulled her closer to himself and spun them around while their feet began moving faster to keep up with the changed beats of the music. I drowned out all conversation going on around me and concentrated on the happy, oblivious couple on the dance floor. Finally it was too much.

"Calliope, why aren't you worried about the fact that our daughter looks hot and that she's dancing inappropriately close to a hormonal boy?" I whisked my head around to stare at my wife. I was answered with a rich throaty laughter. That's when I realized I couldn't blame my daughter for my wife of 18 years looked equally hot in a vibrant red, knee-length dress with a plunging V neck and a knotted front. She took a sip of her wine and then leaned in closer to me.  
"One, because I can't but feel proud of the awesome genes she inherits." She drew out the awesome to tease me. Even after all these years Calliope had a hard time understanding that "Awesome" was as good as it gets in my world. Although there have been nights, when wrapped up in my arms all she could manage to utter was a faint "awesome!"  
"And two," she continued, obviously unaware of my interior monologue, "that's Lucas Wilder she's dancing with. And we both know that he is every bit the perfect gentleman." She rolled her eyes in a playful way.  
"And weren't you the one who went with her when she picked up that dress?" she continued to counter.  
Well yes, I was. But then that dress had looked beautiful on her. It was a satin, A-line, knee-length dark-purple dress with a bow-knot on one shoulder. She had put on minimal make-up and left her hair open, covering the one exposed shoulder. And she had teamed up the dress with 3" high silver strapped heels. And voila! Suddenly my daughter seemed too grown-up to me. I frowned.  
"Besides they've known each other since ever." She said more softly, sensing my real concern. "Look at them, Arizona. Don't tell me you don't find them cute together?" She turned her head to look at them, and I followed her line of sight. They did.

"Oh, Lucas maybe a perfect gentleman but its Sofia I am worried about. If she wants something, she will get it any way. And I don't think even Lucas is strong enough to hold his own against Sofia's charm.  
"Well she is your daughter, Arizona, what else did you expect?." Her eyes twinkled and then she slowly leaned in to place a chaste kiss on my lips. I smiled as I tasted her red lips drenched in red wine. "Plus you don't look any less hot yourself."  
I scoffed. I for my part, had chosen a simple rib-knit dark blue dress with boat neck and cap sleeves that reached till just above my knees. Standing next to my effortlessly sexy wife, as always I felt, inadequate.  
"What? You don't believe me?" she asked in mock shock. "Oh Arizona, if I could tell you all the things I want to do to you right now, you would believe me." And just like that, all the playfulness was gone from her voice and I could see the lust beginning to cloud her eyes.

Before I could articulate my thoughts into a coherent sentence, Miranda Bailey's voice drifted over to us "Seriously? One night, that's all I asked." She came into my hazy view. Callie laughed as she moved away from me, but placed a hand at the small of my back. I gathered myself and finally turned my head to look at the diminutive surgeon standing before me, with one hand on her hip, while the other held a glass of wine.  
"You guys never got out of that honeymoon phase did you?" she almost scolded.  
"We've never done things the way they should have been done" I answer with sincerity. Honestly, we've worked very hard to get to where we are today in terms of our relationship. And while it's not roses every day, we've managed to keep our passions for each other alive. When I have a wife like Callie, it's not particularly hard, I muse to myself.

"Well anyway, Congratulations Bailey on your 10,000th surgery" Callie says steering the conversation away to a more party friendly topic. But her hand on my back, drawing lazy circles, tells me that back home, we would probably just pick up from where we left-off minutes earlier.  
"Why Thank You" Bailey beamed. "You see, I got to work with quite a few talented surgeons" she smirked. "And while some tried to ambush me into their department" she met my eyes "I managed to steer clear and hold my own" she finished with a wink.  
"I still think you would have been great in Peds, Bailey" I tell her.

Bailey's reply was cut off by Addison who sashayed up to us "Hey Miranda, tell me how come you get such a great party, while all I did to celebrate my milestone was get drunk in a bar with friends." She pouted as she put one arm around Bailey.  
"Well there were these two teenage girls who sold me their idea and I don't know when and how, but it seems I hired them to organize the party as and how they liked." She replied with an amused expression. She looked around and spotted Zola by the table serving entrees. "I can find one. Where's the other?"  
"Dance floor" I answered.  
"Ah, obviously!" both Bailey and Addison shifted a bit to get a better view.  
Sofia was currently chatting with a tall blonde by the edge of the dance floor.

"And who's that?" Addison asked  
I tried to rack my brains.  
"A new intern" Callie supplied.  
"Seriously, Callie?" I tilted my head up "Didn't we draw up rules for her?"  
"What rules?" Callie asked surprised. Then I saw the realization dawn on her. "Oh no. She's not flirting with her. You can't always assume that. What if they're just normally talking?"  
All four of us turned our heads back just in time to notice the blonde leaning over, kissing Sofia on the cheek, before whispering something in her ear and walking off. Sofia grinned.  
"Just normally talking, huh?" I couldn't help the sarcasm lacing my statement.  
Bailey chuckled and shook her head "I hate to inform you Torres, but that girl just inherited your looks. She is in fact a lethal combo of Robbins and Sloan."  
Addison violently bobbed her head in agreement.

"Hey guys" Sofia chirped as she chose that moment to walk over to us. No, she actually skipped over to us. "Whatchya guys talking about?"  
"You" answered Bailey simply.  
Sofia feigned surprised and then quickly added "I know I'm awesome, but you don't have to always talk about me you know" she flashed her winning smile.  
"See I told you" sang Bailey.  
Sofia looked genuinely confused now. But before she could say anything a waiter came up with a platter of appetizers.  
I picked up one and popped it into my mouth. Instantly, I moaned in satisfaction "What is this thing?"  
"No idea" Bailey answered truthfully "I told you I gave these two free reigns."  
Sofia looked at us proudly "You like it? It's Honey Orange Firecracker Shrimp." She wiggled her eyebrows.  
"It's really good" Callie gave her, her stamp of approval.  
"And you thought it was only Tim who inherited your food related skills" she snorted.  
"You have good taste, but accept it honey" she placed a hand on her shoulder "You are as bad as your mom when it comes to cooking"  
Sofia pouted. "Aww" I pulled her into a one-handed hug. "It's ok, baby. Just make sure to marry someone who can cook. Shouldn't be a problem then."  
"Yeah, and given how Lucas is so perfect when it comes to everything else, I'm sure he can cook too" Callie cooed.

I felt Sofia freeze instantly. "Lucas?" she asked incredulously.  
"Oh so you guys still beating about the bush?" Bailey joined in.  
"You do know we are all secretly rooting for you two to get together, right?" Addison was not to be left behind.  
Sofia looked at me helplessly.

"Cooking reminds me, where's Timmy?" I made a crazy attempt to change the topic. When Callie didn't immediately catch on I had to squint my eyes and mouth a "please"  
Thankfully, Addison was buzzed enough to take the bait and change the topic "I saw him with Henry. You should be worried." She finished solemnly.  
We laughed. Sofia took the opportunity to make an escape. "Any one wants any refills? I'm parched."  
I was driving back and so I had finished up my quota of a single glass of wine. I shook my head no. When no one else took her up on her offer she dashed away to the bar.

"What was that?" Bailey piped up immediately. "Commitment phobia?"  
"She's smart. Simple." Supplied Addison.  
"I think she's still unsure, that's all." Callie said in what I recognized was her wishful voice. "College will clear her head."  
I snorted inwardly at that. Knowing my daughter, I prayed silently for all the broken hearts she would leave in her wake.

"Excuse me" Bailey said to us when she caught Ben waving to her. Seconds after Bailey left, Addison's cell rang and she excused herself too, leaving the two of us alone.  
But we weren't alone for long as Timmy ambled his way up to Callie's side. In comparison to us three, Timmy definitely looked dressed down in his black tailored corduroy pants and white crew-neck tee. The saving grace was the fashionable grey blazer. Which I had no doubt had been Sofia's selection.  
"You abandoned Henry?" I asked my boy.  
"More like he found a more interesting companion for the evening." He replied in a bored tone.  
"And you are out of luck with the girls?"  
He snorted. "Do you see any girls my age here?"  
Callie laughed. "That shouldn't stop you from dancing."

Timmy thought over that for a minute and then a large smile dawned upon his face. But he quickly schooled his features and pulled himself up straighter.  
"Dr. Robbins" he cleared his throat. "Would you mind if I asked your wife to a dance?"  
I played along. "Sure. Just remember to be a gentleman and not drop her on the dance floor."  
"Yes ma'am" he gave a curt nod, one that had me flashing back to the memories of another blond I knew so well. Pushing away those memories, I saw a surprised but elated Callie take the proffered hand and walk to the dance floor.

Timmy was quite tall for his age and so he stood an inch above Callie, and he smartly swayed Callie around to the jazz music. Consumed in my observations, I didn't realize Sofia was standing right beside me till she bumped her elbow against mine.  
"I didn't think, Timmy could dance with his wobbly legs" she said as we watched Timmy expertly swirl Callie around.  
"Well luckily neither of you inherited my dancing skills" I chuckled softly.  
There was comfortable silence. But I knew I had to take my chance when I had it "I worry about your incessant flirting" I tell her simply. With Sofia, I've learnt never to beat around the bush.  
She looks taken aback for a second. "You always worry." She rolls her eyes. I don't drop our eye contact and wait for her true answer. She sighs "I am who you taught me to be. I promised you I wouldn't knowingly do anything stupid and I intend to keep my promise." Her eyes search mine for understanding.  
I do understand her and her need to explore. It's the age. Honestly, I don't want her to be in a serious committed relationship immediately. But I just wished she wouldn't be so harsh on herself and give even a decent relationship a chance.  
"Do you promise not to create new heartbreak records at college?" I ask her, in a lighter tone, letting her know I understand.  
She smiles and then answers "What? And smash your record?" finishing with a smirk.

That earns her a smack on the arm. And we refocus on Timmy and Callie dancing. After another moments silence, I feel Sofia linking her hands through mine "Why are we standing and watching?"  
I grin and then let her pull me towards the dance floor.

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**So how was it? Am I off my game? :( Ah, lemme know! As always I love reading your reviews and knowing how I can improve myself. Sorry for the long waits. Much love- G**


	8. Chapter 8

**Been a long time since I updated, Sorry! was caught up with College work and trying unsuccessfully to complete reading Lord Jim :(  
****I hope this one's worth the wait.**

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to Shonda, I'm just playing with them.**

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I hate days like these. I should have been at home, having dinner with my kids, listening to them babble about their day, tucking them into bed after a story or two, and finally sitting curled up in the couch, with a book in hand, maybe wine too, and waiting for Callie to come home. Instead, I'm still stuck at the hospital, operating on one sick kid after another. And not just operating and making them healthy, if that was the case, there would be some solace. But today, was just not my day. I had been paged in early, and since then had lost two patients. To say, I was tired, was like saying Bill Gates is rich. I was Exhausted! Drained! Lost!

I walked towards the cafeteria as fast as my legs could carry me. Where were those stupid heelies when I needed them most? I hoped Callie hadn't taken the kids home yet. I checked my watch again. 20 minutes since her last text message. Damn it!

As soon as I stepped into the cafeteria, I scanned the place for Callie. She wasn't there. But before I could despair, I spotted April sitting at one of the corner tables bouncing a blond baby in her arms.  
April spotted me coming towards them "There's mommy" she announced.  
Sofia momentarily looked up from her colouring pad and Timmy's head bobbed around till his eyes finally spotted me and he let out a loud wail even as Sofia sang out a "Hello Momma"  
"Gotchya buddy." I cooed as I plucked him out of April's arms. "I missed you too. I did." I whispered softly in his ears as he rested his head on my shoulder with a shuddering breath.

"He was fine till a minute ago, , I swear." April began clarifying. I smiled at her.  
"I know April. He just hasn't seen me all day." I wrapped him closer to myself and let his healthy-baby scent invade my senses and wash away all the nauseating surgical smells clogging my nasal passage.  
"Hey Sof" I waited for my busy 4 year old to look up "you think you can take some time out to give momma a hug and a kiss?"  
"Of course momma" she rolled her eyes in the Torres-way, scampering up on the chair and leaning across the little table to kiss me as I lowered myself.  
"One more" I demanded when she pulled back. She giggled and then placed two wet kisses on either of my cheek before settling back in her chair.  
"And put away that book and please begin eating your sandwich" I said pushing her plate of tuna sandwich closer towards her.  
She scrunched up her face. I gave her a "Don't" look. "Yes ma'am" she grumbled before shutting her book. I don't let her catch me smiling at her antics.

"Thank you April" I said looking at the pregnant woman silently observing our little exchange with a smile on her face. She shook her head "No problem, Dr. Robbins. They are a pleasure." She stretched her hand to tousle Sofia's hair. "Besides I felt I must get in some practice" she continued as she unconsciously began rubbing her swollen belly. I smiled back at her. She would make a great mother. That reminded me,  
"Umm where's Callie?" I turned my head around trying to spot her.  
"She had to take a call" April supplied as I settled down on the chair opposite her. I placed a babbling Timmy on my lap and pulled his plate towards me. He immediately lashed out his hand, not to pick up the food but the fork. I placed a piece of boiled carrot in his hand before lifting my eyes to speak to April "So how long before you go on leave?"  
"Another 3 weeks" she replied, reaching out to pick up a dried tomato from Timmy's plate. Right before putting it in, she looked up shyly "Do you mind?"  
I laughed. "Not at all" After two kids, I knew all about pregnant women and their unusual eating patterns.  
"How long have you been up and about?" I asked gently.  
"Apparently longer than allowed. That's why Yang and Torres got me into the cafeteria" she replied picking up another nibble.

At the mention of her godmother Sofia chirped in excitedly "Tina says we call the baby May if it's girl" She smiled with food stuck in her teeth. "And August if it's a boy" she finished. Timmy nodded his head up and down and babbled as if in assent. I couldn't keep my laughter in. A vivid April shook her head.  
"Noooo" she almost screeched. Sofia looked confused. "But Tina said…" and she looked towards me.  
"Baby, Cristina was joking." I tried explaining to an oblivious Sofia. "The baby is going to have a beautiful name. And we will know what, when the baby is born" I winked and then gave an apologizing smile to April.  
"Yeah, a beautiful name like Sofia" April added and her obvious flattery worked, for my daughter happily nodded her head "Yay!" and took another bite of her sandwich.  
"I'll get going" April said standing up.  
"Bailing already?" I teased.  
She laughed. "Nah. Got to check my patients" Ruffling Timmy's hair, she smiled and then walked away.

We continued our little conversation as we ate our dinner, Sofia excitedly telling me about her day and Timmy babbling about his. Whenever Sofia said something funny and we laughed, Timmy would clap his hands and join in too. Seeing my two, laughing, healthy children, I couldn't help but let my mind wander to all the not-so-lucky ones under my care at the hospital. I was broken out of my reverie by Callie who plonked into the available chair "Hey" she smiled beatifically.

"Hey" I replied a little breathily.  
"Sorry, Addison needed a consult." She said, picking up her own Sandwich. "Long surgery huh?" she asked me taking in my tired countenance. "We missed you" she said as a soft sad smile played on her lips.  
"I missed you guys too" I replied although my answer got muffled by Timmy's mop of hair.  
Callie understood nonetheless. "Another one?"  
"Yeah" I replied letting out a sigh. "Tanner kid needs an emergency Liver transplant"  
"Didn't he come in for seizures?" she asked, taking a sip from her cup.  
"Yeah, turned out to be Alper's syndrome" I answered, the sadness dripping into my voice unconsciously. Sometimes it was just too damn difficult separating the personal and the professional.  
"That explains the developmental delays" said Callie, before leaning forward to place her hand on my mine "Sorry honey"  
I wordlessly, accepted it. She was sorry for my loss. Or the eventual loss anyway. Alper's was incurable. Maybe now with a liver transplant, 5 year old Lee Tanner would survive, but he was bound to lose the battle in the long run.  
"They should have brought him in earlier, when they saw the delay in developmental milestones" I said a little angrily.  
"They were just hopeful" Callie said softly. "No parent wants to accept that something's wrong with their child. They waited it out, like normal parents" she leaned back in her chair and took another sip.  
"And look where it got them" I realized my anger was irrational, but right now I needed to let it all out.  
"Timmy hasn't started teething yet, and we're fine with it." She said it out loud before she even realized the magnitude of what she had said.

Immediately, my hold on Timmy strengthened. I looked down at my 11 month old son. He had Mark's ash blond hair and my blue eyes, or how Callie liked to call them "impossibly blue". He was a healthy baby, or wasn't he? He was crawling, he was sitting up, he was beginning to recognize people. But he hadn't begun teething yet. What if he had faulty genes?  
"Arizona, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that…" Callie began almost immediately, leaning forward once more.  
I didn't let her complete "What if he has faulty genes? What if he develops some of those syndromes later. Maybe we should have a complete…"my ramble was cut off by a sharp "Arizona" from Callie.  
"Arizona" she continued a little more gently, cupping my cheeks "Our son is healthy. We know that some kids take longer to start teething. said it's normal. And besides he has excellent genes from two good-looking, healthy, intelligent parents." I let those words sink in as I blink away the tears from my eyes.  
"Sofia was born a preemie and still she caught up with her developmental milestones didn't she?" asked Callie with a small smile. "We are lucky parents Arizona. We are blessed with healthy children" She raised herself out of her chair to reach forward and kiss me gently. I tasted her grape juice on her lips. She only let go of my face when I nodded my head.  
"I'm sorry" she said settling back down.

I nodded my head once more. I realized I was freaking out unnecessarily. "I'm sorry too." I tried smiling. "Sometimes, some cases get to you" I offered my weak explanation.  
"I know honey, I know" Callie replied lovingly. I know she understood, and I was, am, and will always be grateful for that. Some days when I reach home exhausted, she demands no explanations; but silently and assiduously gets down to fixing me back in her own special way.

Sofia decides in that moment that she has allowed her mothers to have enough adult conversation. "Can we take Zola with us when we go ice-skating next week?" she asks excitedly.  
"Skating?" Callie squeaks. She looks from Sofia's eager face to mine, demanding an explanation.  
And just like that, when I had given up freaking out, my wife was there to take up the mantle. "I may have mentioned something of that sort" I supplied sheepishly.  
Callie shakes her head. "No Sof, you aren't going skating. But maybe, we could have Zola over for a night spend, what say?" she tried to barter with her.  
"Why can't I go skating?" Sofia pouted.  
Callie huffed. "Because" and she drew out the word "you could fall and break your bones when you wear those dangerous shoes and walk out on hard ice" she said crossing her arms across her chest. "So no. No skating."  
"But I fall because of the law of gratity, mami" Sofia argued, her face still scrunched up.  
I laugh out loud. "Gravity, baby" I correct, handing her a cup of juice.  
"Yes momma. Gravity. That's what makes me fall" she gives her infallible reason.  
Callie cannot but let out a chuckle at that. "I think a little more than just gravity is responsible for you falling. Where did you learn that anyway?" She directs the next words at me "See, the little one's already a little too smart for age."

I smile. And this time it's a full-blown smile, one that reflects my pride and love for my little girl.  
"We can discuss it at home, ok?" I try to find a solution. I can almost hear the emphatic "no" falling out of Callie's mouth, but then she sees Sofia's face and relents "Yeah, maybe we can reason it out"  
Sofia nods. "You will" she pauses briefly to find the right word, "advocate for me, won't you momma?" she asks her big, pretty, brown eyes trained on me.  
"You bet baby" I answer as we hi-fi.  
"Adorkables!" my wife snorts before she takes up my hand in hers. "Arent they Mi'jo?" she asks the bouncing blond in my arms. Timmy claps his hands in answer.  
"At least I have Timmy on my side." She mock sighs, then catches my eyes.

The happy moment is interrupted by my pager going off. I look at it. It's from Karev telling me that they are prepping up for surgery.  
"Time's up" I announce, as I stand up and hand over Timmy to Callie, but not before I've placed a few sound kisses on his face. He doesn't fuss too much and settles happily into his mami's arms.  
"Best of luck" Callie whispers before capturing my lips in a short but intense kiss. "I'll wait up for you"  
I mouth a "Thank You" and place another chaste kiss before straightening up.

"Sofia" I say going over to her chair "Be a good girl for mami. Don't stay up too late, ok?" I pepper her with kisses, while she giggles and hangs with her hands around my neck.  
"Yes momma. Just one story today, momma" she grins. I smoothen back her hair and lower her into her chair.

My pager sounds again. I pick up Callie's left-over sandwich and wave bye to my family. Right before I exit the cafeteria I hear my daughter shout "Go be Awesome, momma!" and suddenly I feel all charged up for my next surgery.

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**So how was it? Let me know. As always I love reading your feed backs :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Been a while since I updated this story. I apologize. I was busy writing my other fic. But here's one finally and I hope you guys like it. Forgive me for my errors. Happy reading!**

**Disclaimer : All characters belong to Shonda, I'm simply playing with them.**

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"Like I said Dr. Robbins, not a problem. Those kids were a pleasure" Major Lennox smiled as he walked out onto the porch. "And I wouldn't be surprised if they pestered you to bring them here more often from now on" He took the final few steps down the porch and then turned back to us as we stood in the doorway.

I laughed. "I see. So they've been allowed to run wild today, huh?" But the question is more for my father than for the young Major.

"Wild?" my father scoffs. "They were just troopers having a field day" he replies grinning. My kids have softened the hard-core military man, I used to know.

Major Lennox laughs politely at that before standing up straighter and pulling back his shoulders "Colonel" he says addressing my father "if there isn't anything more, shall I take leave Sir?"

My father nods his head as he slowly leans forward in his chair and extends his hand out. The young Major quickly climbs up a step or two and takes his proffered hand. "Thank you, Lennox." He adds. The Major beams. "Always a pleasure Colonel." So saying he lightly bends his head first towards my father then towards me, then smartly turns on his heels and walks towards his car parked on the drive-way.

"Good Night Major!" two yells ring out from the upper-storey window facing the drive-way. "Thank You, Sir" in Sofia's sing-song voice follows a second later. Major Lennox looks up and waves up to the children on the window. "Be good troopers. And sleep well" he gives them a little salute.

"Sir, Yes Sir!" rings out before their giggling is heard.

As the car pulls out of the drive-way I call up to them "Sof, Tim, 2 minutes. Quickly clean yourselves up and come down for dinner. Granma's made your favourite." We can hear Timmy's squeals before the pattering of feet across the floor. My father and I share a laugh as I wheel him back into the house.

"I can do it myself Arizona" he says in a clipped tone and I retrace my hands and bite my lips. His pushes the buttons on the handle and expertly manoeuvres his wheelchair around and turns it in the direction of the dining room. "A marine never gives up! Never gives up!" he chants more to himself than to me.

I know that he's capable of doing it all by himself, but would it hurt him to let us help him sometimes? I don't really ask that out loud. I've never really questioned my father, never ever. And there are times when I'm infuriated by his strong-headedness but I never tell him that. And in all honesty, I like to see him strong, or at least act strong anyway. Watching him wheelchair bound, is as difficult for me to watch as difficult it is for him to live it.

So as always I say nothing and he wheels himself to the dining table as my mother and Callie set the table. "It smells wonderful" I comment as I walk into the room myself. My mother smiles "I cooked the fish today the way Callie taught me." She shares a look with her daughter-in-law. "It's turned out brilliantly" she says as she carries a bowl of salad in one hand and freshly baked bread in another.

"Ah, Barbara I know it's turned out brilliantly because of the little tweak you made to it in the end" Callie replies graciously. "I don't know why I didn't think of trying it earlier." She adds as she settles down in the chair on the opposite end as my father.

"We have no idea what you girls are talking about, but we are definitely looking forward to enjoying our meal" my dad winks lightly at me before picking up his napkin and adjusting it around his neck. Because of the lack of co-ordination in his fingers, he fumbles and immediately my mum comes over to help him out with it. When he begins to mumble his irritation about it she cuts him off "Oh Daniel, you were fumbling with your napkins and ties even before your illness, and you needed me then as much as you need me now. So stop being a child and just sit and enjoy your dinner."

I share a look of mirth with Callie. She covers up her chuckle with her hand. My mum is the only person in the world who can scold The Colonel and shut him up.

"So did the kids tire you out, Colonel?" Callie asks changing the topic to one he likes to talk about. And she gets the desired effect. Dad forgets all about his earlier rush of complaints and gives up his irritation in order to talk about his coveted grandchildren.

"Tire me out?" he questions, raising his eyebrows. "Not even three wars could tire me out." He adds, his chest involuntarily broadening. "But they ran around so much today, I won't be surprised if they fall asleep the minute they hit their bunks." He chuckles.

"Beds." My mum corrects him as she settles down. "Where are they anyway? Aren't they done yet?"

"Troopers" my dad bellows from his seat. "March in for your dinner"

And almost in answer to his call we hear the great commotion on the stairs as the two race down.

"No running" Callie calls out. And they immediately stop but excitedly half-march half-skip into the room and quickly scamper up into their seats- Sofia beside me, and Timmy on the opposite side beside my mother.

"Did you clean your hands nicely?" my mother questions and both wiggle their hands for her to show her that they are clean.

"After dinner, a quick hot bath and then off to bed ok?" Callie tells them as she starts serving out food.

"Yes Mami" they both quickly assent. But Timmy adds after pausing for a heartbeat "But that's after the cake right?" and he looks innocently from his mami to me.

"Stupid, you spoilt the surprise!" Sofia admonishes him and all I can do is chuckle. My mother smiles as she runs a loving hand through his hair as he sits there pouting, realizing his slip "It's ok honey"

"Oh is it my birthday cake?" my dad perks up from his end of the table. "Is that why I was kept out of the house all day?" His eyes are twinkling with mirth as he looks around the table.

"It's your b'day today dad, who else would the cake be for?" I tell him as I put food on his plate. "And you were out of the house because you love to, no one deliberately kept you out" I roll my eyes.

"Yes Daniel, you had more fun playing Drill Sergeant than the kids themselves" my mum added.

"So what did you guys do today?" Callie asked as she sipped her wine and that was enough impetus for our 12 year old and 9 year old to start chattering through the entire dinner, telling us all about their day. From visiting the museum, to talking to soldiers and war veterans and watching them play pool and cards, to getting a helicopter ride before watching the soldiers complete the obstacle courses. There was no dearth for talk on the dinner table. And it was surprising, that unlike the olden days, my father not only did he not scold us for talking while eating; he actively participated in giving his own version of the events.

"Tim completed his obstacle course like a pro. All those young boys there were mighty surprised. But I wasn't. Uhun, me, I knew he my grandson could do it." He beamed at Tim proudly.

Tim grinned with spinach stuck between his teeth "I beat Sofia." He proudly proclaimed.

Sofia huffed "That's only because I didn't want to get all dirty rolling in the mud" She stuck out her tongue. I ran a hand down her back. I knew how highly competitive Sofia was and exactly how upset she got when she didn't win on the first go itself.

"But Sofia knew all the answers during the history quiz at the museum earlier, didn't she?" my dad said, looking equally proud of his grand-daughter.

"Sofia is so smart" My mother beamed. "I heard you got an A+ on that science project you submitted. What was it on?"

Sofia accepted the compliment "The human body." She tossed her hair back in typical Callie-fashion. Then she chuckled at her own silliness "With all the doctors around it was only natural" she shrugged her shoulders.

"But you did work hard on it" Callie reminds her.

"Yep" she nods her head and her ponytail bounces up and down. "And next time I'll beat you at the obstacle course." She challenges Timmy.

Timmy snickers "Ok Geek. Its game on!" and he holds out his fork like a sword, Sofia clashes hers against his.

"That's like my troopers" my father proclaims.

"You think I'd make a good soldier Grandpa? Can I get all the medals like you did?" Timmy asks excitedly between mouthfuls of food and almost instantly an eerie chill befalls the table.

I see an older version of my Timmy sitting on the dinner table, on a similar evening and announcing how he had been recruited into the marines, and I can still vividly recall my dad enveloping him in a hug. The only time he's hugged my brother Timothy. And Timothy asking him with a boyish grin on his face "Do you think I'll be as good as you dad?" And dad looking at him with pride filled tears glistening in his eyes "No. You'll be better."

Tim had gone on to become a decorated marine. And now, he was _gone_. Truly irrevocably gone. And there was no way in Hell, I would lose another Tim, _my baby_, to the glories of war.

My "No" rang out sharper than I expected.

"Arizona" Callie said softly, waiting for me to look into her eyes. Even though she looked a shade paler than usual, she shook her head and offered me a little smile. She didn't want me spoiling this happy occasion. But this was my baby who wanted to go to war. I looked at the blond, who sat there with a confused expression on his face. Sofia too was looking at me curiously.

It was my father who spoke out "You already are a soldier, Timmy boy." He smiled, although his eyes were as wet as mine. "Come here" Timmy dropped his fork on his plate and slowly made his way over to his grandpa who held him close to himself.

"A Robbins is a born soldier. We are good men in the storm. We don't have to be fighting a war to prove that we are good soldiers. We fight our daily battles with our head held high. We fight for the causes we believe in, for the people we love and for justice. You learn to do that and you will become a soldier." Timmy was looking at him rapt with attention. "Just like your mothers. They are soldiers. Every day they strive to do the right thing and save lives, give happiness to so many people." Here he briefly paused to look at Callie and me. "A soldier, Timmy, is one who gives himself up for others." He ruffles his hair lightly and kisses him on his forehead. "Sofia," he calls out my daughter. Sofia rises from her seat and walks over to her grandpa, who envelops her in a hug with his other hand. "You and Tim, I want you guys to be soldiers, to be good men in the storm. Promise me, you will do that." He looks from Sofia to Tim. As Sofia whispers a "Promise" and hugs her grandpa Timmy takes the cue and does the same.

I wipe away the tears that are threatening to fall from my eyes and look at Callie. She extends her hand and takes mine in hers. She wipes the edges of her eyes as well.

"There there. I think it's time to bring out the cake" my mother says, standing up abruptly and turning away before we can catch her crying. "I'll help." Callie says standing up and following my mother to the kitchen.

I look down when my dad reaches out his hand to me. I entangle his fingers in mine and give him a sad smile. I know how much he misses Timmy, I do too. I hear shuffling in the kitchen and it's is only later in the night that Callie reveals to me that she held my mum as she cried.

Minutes elapsed before the two finally emerged from the kitchen holding an assiduously baked chocolate cake with brightly lit candles and placed it on the table in front of my dad. With his grandchildren standing on either side of him and surrounded by the rest of us, my father takes a moment before blowing out the candles.

"Callie" he begins in a sincere voice, "Thank you for giving me these lovely gems and for taking care of my little girl" he says as he looks at her. Callie is initially surprised but she squeezes his shoulder "Always Colonel"

He then turns towards me "Arizona, thank you, for being the good man in the storm and letting me believe that I could be a hero" I wasn't prepared for his emotional speech today so all I can do is utter "dad." He was, is and will always be my hero-wheelchair bound or not. I place a wet kiss on his forehead.

"And finally Barbara, for loving me enough and accepting me" he looks up at my mum who is now openly letting her tears fall and extends his hand. "Oh Daniel, You were always such a romantic!" she lets out a small laugh. She takes his proffered hand and he draws it to himself and kisses it lightly.

Sofia giggles and Timmy squirms, and that draws my father's attention back to the cake "And troopers, I'll need your help to blow out the candle. You ready?" He asks, his voice charged with emotion. The children excitedly nod their head. "So on the count of 3" he says as he draws them closer to himself and all three bend their heads forward.

"1..2..3!"

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**How was the new installment? You know I love listening from you :) Thanks for Reading, love-G**

**P.S- I have the plots for the next chapter already in place. Keep checking out this space for new chapters to be (hopefully) added soon! :D**


	10. Chapter 10

**Finally next chapter up :) Sorry been caught up updating "Not the Plan". But here's it finally. I hope you like it. If you do not agree with my version of events you are free to let me know.**

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to Shonda, I'm simply playing with them.**

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"Can I have some milk too mami?" my three year old asks as she is lying on her stomach on the couch, her head propped up on her elbows.

I look up from the baby I'm nursing and chuckle when I see the seriousness on her face.

"Really?" I ask her, knowing full well that she hates drinking milk and that every morning one of us three have to force her to drink it.

"Uhmmm" she answers her large eyes shift from my face to the baby in my arms. "Can I drink it like baby?"

I smile. "But you're a big girl now aren't you? And only small babies drink milk like this, because they aren't as strong as Sofia to hold her own mug and drink milk"

She seems to consider that answer for a moment. "Did I drink like this when I small?" she asks.

That forces me to revisit the circumstances surrounding her birth and I shudder at the thought of how I was so unsure if I'd ever be able to hold my baby let alone breast feed it. But I look at her now, and my fears are quelled. I answer as lightly as I can manage "Then how do you think you grew up to be so strong?"

She smiles sweetly. "Can I still drink some milk?"

"As soon as you finish your dinner" Arizona is the one that answers as she walks into the room having just put the dirty clothes in the washing machine. "What have I told you about table manners Sof?" she asks in her "mom-voice." I try to hold back my smile. Sofia lets out a tiny groan and rolls off the couch landing with a soft thud on the carpeted floor. Almost instantly I lean forward to catch her "Careful Sof". The baby stirs a little at the sudden disturbance.

She grins and scampers off to the kitchen counter. As Arizona helps her onto her chair I hear her say "Sorry momma". Arizona drops a kiss on her head "Eat up. All of it" she says as she spots Sofia starting to pick out the greens. Sofia drops her head a little "Yes ma'am" she agrees softly.

"You guys need anything?" she asks us as she rounds the isle and moves to the other side.

"No we're good" I answer softly as my eyes drift back to the 1 week old blond angel in my arms. He looks mighty busy trying to drink up all that he can. I run a hand first through his soft hair then run it along the length of his arm, down his little leg and hold his little feet pink feet in my hands. They are so soft. I bend down my head and place a little kiss there. When I lift my eyes I see my wife and daughter are still debating on whether all vegetables are good and which flavour milk would be best suited on a Saturday night.

"Chocolate" Sofia finally declares then catching a look on her momma's face she adds a little "please". Arizona smiles, drops her hands from her hips and goes about making chocolate milk. I smile at the pure domesticity of things. Nothing special going on, just us four, at dinner time. A normal day. But I know how long and hard a journey it has been to reach here. My heart swells with happiness. I can't believe I could get any happier.

Just then the doorbell rings. Arizona places the Spongebob- Squarepants mug filled with chocolate milk in front of Sofia, wipes her hands on her pants and moves towards the door. "Please don't tell me we have to deal with another visitor today" she meets my eye and I give her a sympathetic smile.

She opens the door but I hear nothing else. Sofia slips out of her chair and rushes to the door. "Who is it momma?" she demands as puts her head between the half-opened door and Arizona's leg. Arizona opens the door further and moving towards a side she draws Sofia towards her, giving the visitor space to enter. That is when I finally spot who it is.

"How are you Calliope?" my mother asks as she steps into the house. To say that I'm shocked would be an understatement. I can't manage to utter a word. It's Arizona who speaks up. "Please make yourself comfortable ." My mom gives her a hesitant smile, says a quick "Thank You" as she walks up to the couch and sits down on the opposite end.

"Come on Sof, finish your dinner." Arizona tells the little one as she stands there watching everything curiously. She has only heard about her abuela and seen her pictures once or twice. She follows Arizona into the kitchen and silently sits down to eat.

My mom's eyes follow her for a while. Then she turns around to look at me and tries speaking, but words seem to get caught in her throat. She fiddles with her purse. As always she is elegantly dressed. But I notice the abundant white hair on her head that I hadn't seen before. I look at her face and notice the new wrinkles. She seems tired. She looks up and I notice her eyes are moist.

"Sofia's grown up so much." Her voice quivers just a bit. "She looks like you when you were younger."

"Three years is a long time" is the first thing that I say to her. She looks back down.

Neither of us knows what to say next. I am so hurt that I don't want to be the first one to crumble and hug her like I have been dying to do since she walked in that door. Arizona speaks up from the kitchen "Would you like anything Mrs Torres? I'm afraid I'm not as good as Callie when it comes to cooking but there's Mexican style stir-fry." She says more to fill the awkward silence. I look up at her and she sees the silent "thank you" in my eyes.

My mother decides to stun us further. "Please call me Lucia" she says. "And just a glass of water please" she offers Arizona a smile.

Sofia turns her head "Chocolate milk is good too" she states from her place. "Do you want chocolate milk abuela?" she asks innocently. My mother is the one stunned to silence now. She looks at Arizona then turns towards me "She knows me" it's stated with a sigh of relief. "I never cut you off from the family" I tell her honestly.

She swallows hard and wipes away the tear threatening to fall from her eyes. Turning back towards Sofia she replies with a beaming smile "I'll have what Sofia is having" Sofia gives her a huge grin.

"Thank You" my mother says to me as she turns back. I simply shrug my shoulder. I don't think I could hold myself together if I start speaking.

"I heard Arizona's mother couldn't be here. She's down with the flu isn't it?" she continues softly. So she has been receiving news from daddy. She stretches forward a hand to touch Timothy but then stops mid-air. I look up to meet her eye.

"Can I?" she asks in a strangled whisper. "I at least got to see Sofia. I couldn't bear the thought of not knowing this one." I simply nod my head and she quickly moves her hand to the baby's head. She runs a loving hand over him. "What are you calling him?" she asks.

"Timothy" my own voice barely above a whisper. "After Arizona's brother" she completes the sentence. I'm surprised she remembers. Just then Timothy moves his head away from my breast, finally content. He purrs lightly and opens his eye just a fraction to reveal his blue eyes. "They are as blue as the sky" my mother says reverently. He shuts them back again and nestles close to my chest.

I don't know if she wants to hold him. I remember what she did last time. The memory fuels my anger and I let out "Why did you come?" a little more sharply than intended.

It seems to break her out of her daze. "I…I" she stutters and looks back down. Then after a moment's silence she draws in a deep breath and begins "As a lawyer, it's my work to appeal on behalf of people. Make sure they get justice. Or if they are to be punished, I try my best to get them the least of it. But when it comes to my personal life…" she pauses to look up at me "I don't know if any punishment would be enough for the injustice I've done to you. And to Arizona." She adds after a heartbeat. "I punished you but it was me who was sinning. I had cut myself off from my daughter…three years Calliope…three years" she is by now openly crying. I have rarely seen my mother cry. She wipes her nose before continuing "I missed out on the important milestones in Sofia's lives, I don't want to make that mistake again. I want to know my grandchildren." She states with finality. "And I know that you and…"she turns back to look at Arizona "and Arizona have every right to be angry at me, but please" she turns back to me "please try and forgive me." She clasps my hand over Timothy's body. "Please Calliope."

I look up to see Arizona staring intently at me. She nods her head egging me on. I see Sofia watching us with rapt attention. I can't seem to form any words so I simply hold out Timothy towards her. She seems surprised for a moment before she carefully takes him in her own arms and holds him close to her chest. "Timothy Torres" she whispers into his ears and drops a kiss on his head. She doesn't lift her head for a long time as she sits there holding him and crying silently.

It's Sofia who breaks the silence. She skips over with her mug in hand and Arizona follows her with a mug in her own hand.

"Abuela, here's your chocolate milk" she states excitedly as she stops in front of her. My mother looks up and smiles. She hands the baby to me and turns to Sofia with her arms wide open "Will you give your abuela a hug?" she asks timidly. Sofia happily relents as she moves into her abuela's arms. Mom holds her close and peppers her with kisses. She squeals in delight.

"Careful with that mug Sof" Arizona calls out and the two still down. My mother turns Sofia in her arms and pulls her into her lap. She looks up at Arizona as she hands her the mug of chocolate milk. "Thank you" she says "for everything. And I hope that one day that you can forgive me too"

Arizona smiles down at her. "You are family Lucia" she states simply as she comes and sits down on the arm rest behind me and places a hand on my shoulder. I turn my head to look up at her and give her a watery smile. She smiles back. I lean up and perceiving my intention she leans down and kisses me chastely on my lips. I quickly turn around to see if my mother minds it. But she is too occupied admiring her granddaughter. She looks up though at the two of us and smiles.

"When will abuelo come?" Sofia asks. My mother answers patiently "In a day or two. He's in Europe right now. Do you know where Europe is mi alma?" she asks the little one. Sofia frowns a little trying to remember what that word means, then shakes her head. "I have still much to teach you. I'll teach you everything" my mom says as she holds the little girl more tightly to her chest. I reach out one hand towards her and she smiles before clasping it in hers.

I was wrong earlier when I said I couldn't be happier. I just pray to God he keeps proving me wrong like this.

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**Soooo...how is it? Is the collection getting boring? Lots of views but not enough reviews to let me know if I still manage to get it right. **

**Also like I said earlier if anyone has any prompts for a dinner setting I'd love to hear from you. I have nearly exhausted all my ideas. maybe one more. And then I think I'll stop with this story.**

**Thank You for reading and reviewing. Lots of Love-G**


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